Summary
- The Hunger Games films had to be modified to fit a PG-13 rating despite their initial R-rated cuts, in order to reach a broader audience.
- The explicit violence in the films may not be crucial to conveying the political and social message, but it does contribute to the impact of the story.
- The real battles in The Hunger Games are fought outside the arena with strategy, rather than relying solely on brute force, reflecting the complex war between the rebels and the Capitol.
The Hunger Games films contain a high degree of violence due to their plot, but it could have been even more violent, as Francis Lawrence reveals that all the movies that he directed had an R-rated first cut. The first Hunger Games film, released in 2012, was directed by Gary Ross. Despite the good reception by fans of the saga and the good performance at the box office, the director did not return for the second part. Lawrence’s arrival for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire marked a before and after for the franchise, and that film is considered by most fans to be the best of the entire saga. The filmmaker also returned for Mockingjay, which was divided into two parts, and was summoned again by Lionsgate for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the prequel that hits theaters next week.
The main plot of the saga focuses on the annual celebration of an event where young people between 12 and 18 years old are chosen at random to fight to the death in a mysterious arena, until only one survives. And although explicit violence is not important to convey the political and social message of the film, it does make a difference in order for the story to have a true impact. And Lawrence knows it.
In an interview with Jake’s Takes, the director confessed that the original cuts of the films are rated R, but are modified to fit the PG-13 and reach a broader audience:
“The truth is every Hunger Games movie that I’ve done has gotten an R rating at first. And we always have to inch it back and inch it back and inch it back, and go back and forth with the MPAA to sort of nudge it back into PG-13. So I’m always approaching it thinking we have to be PG-13, but we always end up getting an R first and have to inch it back.”
Why The Hunger Games Doesn’t Actually Need an R-Rating
Beyond the fact that The Hunger Games books are considered part of the young adults’ genre, which implies that a large part of its readers may still be teenagers and would not be able to see the films if they were R-Rated, the little violence that the movies show is more than enough to generate the desired impact.
The real battles in The Hunger Games are not fought in the games’ arena, but outside of it and with strategy over brute force. In Catching Fire, during one of the conversations Plutarch Heavensvee and President Snow have during Peeta and Katniss’ promotional tour around the Districts, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character says: “It’s moves and counter-moves, and it’s all we gotta look at.” A phrase that very well defines how the war between the rebels of Panem and the Capitol really unfolds.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which hits theaters on November 17, will also be PG-13 like the rest of the movies. Check out our review here, and watch the trailer below.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
